Since the creation of wheels, man has sought various mechanisms to assist wheels in turning at a higher rate. Hubcaps or wheel covers have been used for years to provide ornamental decoration for wheels. Generally, mechanical means of attachment such as friction clips and screws have been used to attach the hubcap to the wheel rim. Traditionally, these approaches have not been used on two wheel vehicles such as motorcycles and bicycles as there is no effective means for attaching hubcaps to an axle that extends beyond the planar, cross-sectional thickness of the wheel rim. Moreover, the weight of hubcaps or wheel covers generally used in the automotive industry are not suitable for motor or human powered cycles.
Recently, composite wheels have become popular. While composite wheels may eliminate the use of spokes, they are costly and do not necessarily reduce the weight of the wheel or the energy necessary to initiate revolution. As a result, composite wheels do not always provide an adequate alternative to wheel covers as they may not be readily applicable to all uses in which spoke wheels may be found. Traditional spoke wheels are still the predominant wheel system for most two-wheeled vehicles.
In the past, various systems have been proposed for covering spoke wheels. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,712,838 and 4,836,615 to Berg et al discloses a clip-fastened disc cover for spoke wheels, which generally consists of a fabric or plastic cover having a hoop of semi-rigid material in a peripheral pocket of the cover. McEachern, U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,749, discloses a fabric or polymeric wheel cover which generally consists of a porous cover, having a central aperture for the wheel hub held on wheels by tension engagement with an opposing cover.
Laurion, U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,443, discloses an ornamental wheel element which is designed to fit between the spokes, inside a wheel. Strazis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,821, discloses a semi-rigid, tension attached bicycle wheel cover assembly intended to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of bicycle wheels. Monte, U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,478, discloses a streamlined wheel for bicycles which comprises two hollow half shells which are joined to create a rim for support of a tire. Imao et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,605, and Viellard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,578, discloses spokes and wheel components useful in composite wheels.
However, these systems fail to disclose an inexpensive means of easily improving the aerodynamic properties of a spoke wheel with minimal manual effort. As can be seen, while any number of alternative wheel covers are available, these systems have certain shortcomings which have not yet been satisfied by the art.